I am sad to hear that. We bumped into Bob at Ben Lomond in Feb and he was bright, chatty and about to slog on into the crag with a client for a day's guiding, Looking in impressive condition and doing a job far younger people couldn't keep up with. He was certainly passionate and contributed a lot to climbing in Tasmania.

McMahon: irascible, mercurial. Susi, Andy, Selty, the climbs, the books, the art, the snow and wind, the wine, the car crashes, the whirlwind of passionate anger against the system and passionate love of life.

On 18/04/2013 benm wrote:>McMahon: irascible, mercurial. Susi, Andy, Selty, the climbs, the books,>the art, the snow and wind, the wine, the car crashes, the whirlwind of>passionate anger against the system and passionate love of life. >

Rob, Robert, Bob, Bobbie. He was everywhere and remains part of everyone who knew him. He accomplished so much and with his very special family seemed about to do so much more. Sincerest condolences to Suzi, Andy, Selty and grandchildren.
Ian

Bob McMahon was a father, husband, climber, painter, potter, protester, protagonist and pulp hater!! Bob will be remembered for many things, in particular his fight for the environment and the common man. 500 years ago he would have been known as a warrior!! His love of Ben Lomond is only equalled by the love of his family and friends....and footy!! Bob is gone but he will life on....maybe on the upper ledge of Rock-a-day Johny on the Ben....looking down on the rolling landscape with a glass of fine Tasmanian wine. It was a pleasure to know Bob and his family, to climb with him and share life with such a passionate and driven person. Have hands will jam.

Wow, that just seems unbelievable. It was just the other day I was at Gareth Llewellin's house in Natimuk admiring a large print of a wild wave-swept ocean when I found out Bob had taken the photo and also made the frame. It really was a fantastic image. Gareth and I then got talking about Bob and what a unique character he was - a fascinating mix of climber, scholar, artist, writer, bogan, explorer. His contribution to Australian climbing on so many levels is enormous (new routes, new cliffs, writing great climbing stories, superb photography, guidebooks, starting up climbing magazines, building climbing huts, introducing numerous others to climbing). And yet he had a whole range of other interests too. How he fitted it all into one lifetime beats me.

Ah jeez...driving into Sunshine Possibilities pissed in the middle of the night with Bob Bull, slugging Guinness in a snowstrom at Big Gun Pass, Astral Weeks and Galliano in the Labyrinth, cold winds and Mike McHugh and Peter Jackson on Sow Spur, sunshine on Stacks Bluff with Jackson and Reg Williams, close to being attacked by loggers under Ben Lomond, hilarity under the Walls of Jerusalem, family climbing at Whitewater Wall, tea and cakes in Cataract Gorge...always memorable, always entertaining, always hospitable and generous, incredibly well-read, never dull. Another light goes out.

Bob was a force of Nature coming at you from all sides. Ian Tyson's phrase "four strong winds" comes to mind. He revelled in the world wild. It was fitting that two of his favourite places outside of Tasmania were Tierra del Fuego and Iceland. No-one loved and lived life more. One of my clearest memories is of a ramble to Ragged Jack with a bunch of mates, Bob roaring with laughter at some small joke as we strolled along. It wasn't the climbing, it was the companionship of the man.
We loved him.

I did not know Bob, however as a climber he inspirationally touched my life, as I had certainly heard of some of his exploits. I know the climbing community is the poorer for his passing, and my thoughts go to his family and friends.